Production
About two hundred thousand tonnes of tetrahydrofuran are produced annually. The most widely used industrial process involves the acid-catalyzed dehydration of 1,4-butanediol, akin to the production of diethyl ether from ethanol. The butanediol is derived from condensation of acetylene with formaldehyde followed by hydrogenation. Du Pont developed a process for producing THF by oxidizing n-butane to crude maleic anhydride followed by catalytic hydrogenation. A third major industrial route entails hydroformylation of allyl alcohol followed by hydrogenation to the butanediol.
THF can also be synthesized by catalytic hydrogenation of furan. Where furan is derived from pentose, this method can involve renewable resources. Nevertheless, this route is not widely practiced.
Read more about this topic: Tetrahydrofuran
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